Mid-West Growing Season Weather

Abstract

An earlier discussion of the summer northward heat flux at ground level at one location in northwest Iowa, based on observing the winds there over 30 consecutive summers, is extended geographically west to the Rocky Mountains and southward. Also the time-scale is stretched well past 30 years. Evidence cited is the eastward increase in plant size and greenery at constant latitude starting at the mountains, which is easily noticed from Texas to North Dakota. One dynamical element, the Coriolis force, acting on the north and south winds over long time periods helps explain the observations. Conservation of mass is another important ingredient.